Average NFL Height and
Weight by Position
Cole R. Blender
Stats 422 Final Project
Introduction
• This project aims to estimate the average height and weight of an NFL
player.
• The population being sampled is the NFL. More specifically the population
is all NFL players on an active roster for an NFL team.
• We will be measuring the average height and weight of an NFL player by
position.
• This project will gives kids striving to reach the NFL a goal for height and
weight.
• Research Question: What is the average height and weight of an NFL
player? What is the average height and weight of an NFL player by
position?
Sampling Design
• Elements- NFL players on a team’s active roster
• Population- All NFL players on a team’s active roster
• Sampling Units- NFL players on a team’s active roster
• Frame- NFL active roster list
Sampling Design
• Considered:
• Systematic Sampling, Cluster Sampling, and Stratified Sampling
• Chosen:
• Stratified Sampling
• I believe that this sampling scheme is the best option. This will allow me to separate
players into different stratum made specific for each position. I made 13 different strata:
QB, RB, WR, TE, FB, OL, DB, LB, DE, DT, K, P, LS. Each stratum is made up of players with
the same position.
Sampling Design: Strata
• 1. QB- Quarterback
• 2. RB- Running Back
• 3. WR- Wide Receiver
• 4. TE- Tight End
• 5. FB- Full Back
• 6. OL- Offensive Line
• 7. DB- Defensive Back
• 8. LB- Linebacker
• 9. DE- Defensive End
• 10. DT- Defensive Tackle
• 11. K- Kicker
• 12. P- Punter
• 13. LS- Long Snapper
Methods, Implementation Details
• ȳ
st
ȳ
• This is the equation used to estimate the average height and weight
of an NFL player.
• V-hat(ȳ
st
) =
• This is the equation to find the variance of our estimate.
• B = 2*(V-hat(ȳ
st
)^.5)
• This is the equation to find the bound on the error of estimation.
Methods, Implementation Details
• I first started by finding how many samples (n) to draw from each
sample.
• I did this by using the equation:
• n =
• D = B^2/4
• Setting B = 1 for height and B = 8 for weight I calculated n = 12
• n = 12
Methods, Implementation Details
• Now that I knew how many samples to draw, I had to do it randomly
• I did this by assigning every player a range of numbers
• The first player was 0-1, second 1-2, third 2-3, and so on until every
player in the population was assigned a range
• I then used the excel function “=N*RAND()” 12 times to generate 12
different numbers
• The range that the number fell into was the player that was to be
selected as a sampling unit.
• I did this process for each of the 13 strata
Methods, Implementation Details
• Once I had the samples for each strata I estimated the population
mean (population being position), variance, and bound on the error
of estimation using the formulas:
• ȳ
• V-hat(ȳ) = (1 – n/N)(s^2/n)
• B = 2*(V-hat(ȳ)^.5)
Methods, Implementation Details
• After this I plugged the numbers I found into the formulas on slide 6
to find the average height and weight of an NFL player
Analysis
• I created boxplots for the height and weight of NFL players by position
• I also estimated the average height and weight of an NFL player and
an NFL player by position
NFL Height by Position
QB RB WR TE FB OL DB LB DE DT K P LS
68
70
72
74
76
78
80
NFL Player Height by Position
Height in Inches
This boxplot shows the height of an NFL player by
position. This boxplot shows that Offensive Linemen
are the tallest players on average. The tallest player
from the sample was also an Offensive Lineman. This
boxplot also shows that Running Backs are the
shortest players on average. The shortest player from
the samples was a Wide Receiver though. Wide
Receivers seem to have the largest range of height out
of all positions.
NFL Weight by Position
QB RB WR TE FB OL DB LB DE DT K P LS
200
250
300
350
NFL Player Weight by Position
Weight in Pounds
This boxplot shows the weight of an NFL player by
position. Kickers seem to be the lightest players in
the league on average and also is the position of
the lightest player out of the samples. Offensive
Linemen seem to be the heaviest on average but
the heaviest player from the samples was a
Defensive Tackle. Quarterbacks seem to have the
smallest range of weight but have a couple of
outliers. Wide Receivers, Defensive Tackles, and
Punters have the largest range of weight.
Results by Position
• QB- Avg. Height: 75.43 in Avg. Weight: 224.97 lbs
• RB- Avg. Height: 70.73 in Avg. Weight: 214.48 lbs
• WR- Avg. Height: 72.40 in Avg. Weight: 200.32 lbs
• TE- Avg. Height: 76.54 in Avg. Weight: 254.26 lbs
• FB- Avg. Height: 72.33 in Avg. Weight: 244.43 lbs
• OL- Avg. Height: 76.75 in Avg. Weight: 314.16 lbs
• DB- Avg. Height: 71.69 in Avg. Weight: 200.10 lbs
• LB- Avg. Height: 74.04 in Avg. Weight: 244.64 lbs
• DE- Avg. Height: 75.82 in Avg. Weight: 278.99 lbs
• DT- Avg. Height: 75.22 in Avg. Weight: 308.97 lbs
• K- Avg. Height: 72.19 in Avg. Weight: 202.58 lbs
• P- Avg. Height: 73.77 in Avg. Weight: 214.32 lbs
• LS- Avg. Height: 74.48 in Avg. Weight: 243.76 lbs
Results Overall
• The average height of an NFL player is 74.14 inches with a bound of
.3211 inches on the error of estimation.
• The average weight on an NFL player is 245.86 pounds with a bound
of 2.556 pounds on the error of estimation.
Conclusion
• In conclusion the average size of an NFL player is about 6’2” 245 lbs.
• This is a solid goal for any kid trying to make it to the NFL.
• If a kid cannot become 6’2” then they can look at the average height
and weight of other positions. Many Wide Receivers, Running Backs,
and Defensive Backs are below this average height.
• This project made me realize how useful sampling can be and also
how tedious it can be for that matter. If one can learn what it takes to
conduct a successful sample they will be able to predict many things,
which can show to be very helpful. Statistics is like magic. Learning
how to properly use it will give you this power.
